This Thing with Haki
by Chrisii
Summary: When Shanks first used Haki, he was kidnapped, along with Buggy, but fortunately, Rayleigh notices. However, will the Dark King aid him how to use it, or will he let the boy find out on his own? And how will Shanks react to everything? One-Shot Buggy/Shanks friendship! Rated T to be sure ;p


This thing with Haki :p

* * *

It was a normal day on the Oro Jackson. Chores to complete. Decks to clean, and two teenagers arguing on who will wash the dishes this time. They had been at sea for a while now, and everybody was relieved when land was spotted. Dark King Rayleigh just had to spoil their cheering.

"If the Chores are not ready! Nobody will leave this ship!" Only Shanks saw the smug smile as the crew went back to their work.

Despite the warning, nobody stopped anybody from jumping off the ship and running into town as soon as they docked. Shanks and Buggy were about to escape into the surrounding forest as well, but Nico, one of the crew members that had not gone to town, grabbed them both by the scruff of their necks. Both their faces reddened as they squirmed to get out of the grip, but the man held tight until they stopped moving and stayed still. The two boys pouted at Nico`s smug grin, but allowed the man to take the lead in their little adventure through the wilderness. After about half an hour, it became eerily quiet, and Nico felt the hair on the back of his neck stand up in warning before bandits surrounded them from every direction. Despite the fact of being great fighters, the trio were defeated and whisked away for unknown reasons.

* * *

When Shanks started to come too, he was dimly aware of the dried blood on his face, and it was annoying the living crap out of him. He hated crusted over wounds. One thing he was also sure off was that his hands were tied behind him. Scratch tied, they were cuffed behind him, and if that wasn`t enough, they went around a pole, securing him in place. Buggy was cuffed in a similar manner, but with sea-stone cuffs securing him by another pole. Blood had crusted over some wounds, but some still drabbled over his chin and down on his chest. Nico was across from the red-head. He was already awake unlike the clown of the trio. His black hair was matted down, and several bruises decorated his face and arms, along with still fresh blood coursing down them. He looked worn out, but upon noticing Shanks awake, Nico sat up a little straighter despite the pain and stared at the teen.

"We`ll be okay, don`t worry," He stated as he saw Shanks' eyes glisten for a fraction of a second.  
"I Know. But what-" Shanks started.  
"No, the captain will save us. Stay calm Shanks," Nico said with a soft tone as someone entered the small room.  
"Let`s begin shall we?" The man asked with a grin.

* * *

It was now evening, and everyone had gone back to the ship, with exception of Nico, Shanks and Buggy. As the crew unloaded the supplies, nobody noticed the absence of the teenagers, but Rayleigh noticed when the crew assembled on the large dock, awaiting permission to go get drunk. His Haki immediately detected the three missing persons, and the captain frowned with worry before sending the crew off to have fun and stay on the lookout.

"Can you sense them on the island?" The captain asked.  
"I can try," Rayleigh said.

After five minutes of spreading his Haki all over the island, he couldn`t get a read on any of them, and that was worrying the blonde man. He always sensed them, especially Shanks. But this time, he couldn`t even get a trickle of their usual energy, and Rayleigh found himself worrying. His fallen face told Roger everything, and the captain felt his spirits fall as well as he jumped off the ship and declared that they were going to find them.

They just had to take a few mates first. With that in thought they headed to the bar/inn of the town.

* * *

Meanwhile..

Buggy screamed bloody murder as the knife trailed down his gut, cutting random patterns and letters, each time carving a little deeper. Tears had sprung to his eyes as he pulled at his cuffs. His wrists had started bleeding as well by that time. Nico was lying in an unconscious heap after they had hit him with the base of a shotgun, and only Shanks was witnessing his best mate laying in a pool of his own blood. A pool which was steadily growing. He was shaking with contained fury, and guilt at not being to do anything as he watched this man, Joshua he had said his name was, torture his friend. He was yet to be harmed, but he got the feeling that physically, he wouldn`t be hurt, but emotionally and mentally, he would be forever scarred. When Buggy`s scream died down, and the boy laid unconscious, Joshua grinned and moved over to Shanks, who despite his fear, didn`t try to crawl back. Joshua however didn`t do anything, just grinned in his face for a minute before backing away and leaving the room like he didn`t just cut open a body. When Shanks fell asleep that night, he was haunted by visions of Buggy`s screaming, along with Nico getting knocked out, and the blood pooling underneath both of them...

He woke up in cold sweat, only to see that Buggy was fine. Not even a scratch if you didn`t count the wounds from the fight. Shanks looked at him surprised, and then at Nico, who aside from a large bruise on his temple, didn`t seem to be hurt. Shanks stared at them as he felt his face pale, and something being pulled out of his arm. He yanked his head towards the sting, and was shocked to see a tiny trail of blood in his arm, along with a grinning Joshua. Shanks was officially freaked out as the sadistic man left the room, and he turned his head to his crew-mates, who were staring at him worriedly.

"What the hell just happened? How are you not.." Shanks started breathing heavily as he shook his head and willed himself to calm down, not to satisfy Joshua any further.  
"What did you see?" Nico asked, his brow furrowed.  
"You were knocked out and bloody and Buggy was.. Buggy was dead.. What do you mean what I saw? What happened? Will somebody just tell me!" Shanks yelled as tears streamed down his dirt covered face and he hunched forward, breathing heavily.  
"Joshua injected something into you. Barely a second passed before you started screaming your lungs out," Nico said gently as Buggy scooted next to the red head and awkwardly rubbed his shoulder with his own.  
"So it wasn`t real.. He didn`t hurt any of you.." Shanks murmured, still in the middle of a panic attack.  
"It wasn`t real, he just wanted to throw you off your rocker," Nico soothed the red head and heaved a sigh of relief when Shanks finally stopped shaking and started breathing somewhat normally.  
"Son of a Bitch.." Shanks continued swearing under his breath for a while until he sagged back against the pole holding him upright.  
"Why was I the one being murdered?" Buggy asked.  
".." Shanks gave him an award-winning glare and the clown shut up immediately.

* * *

It had been a whole day since the trio had gone missing. Rayleigh and the Captain had rounded everyone up, and the crew had spread out to look everywhere, only one group remained. Roger, Rayleigh, Crocus, Seagull and Scooper. They set out in the forest, and soon enough they got to where the fight had broke out. Blood stained leaves littered everywhere, but there was one thing that Seagull noticed and the others did not. Footsteps led to a hidden path, and the group immediately followed it. After about half an hour walk, they got to a clearing, in which there was a stair case leading presumable to a hidden dungeon.

As they descended the brick stairs, the air grew more cold, and Rayleigh unconsciously shivered as he saw the disastrous place and imagined the young boys in it. Just then a blood curdling scream echoed in the corridors, and everybody paled. It was undoubtedly Shanks.

* * *

Nico trashed in his restrains as tears trailed down the red-head`s cheeks, while Joshua entertained himself in drawing patters in the teen`s arm, with a butcher knife. It didn`t take long for Joshua to stop as a high-pitched shriek filled the otherwise steely air around them. Shanks choked on a sob as Joshua slapped him before getting out a small silent pistol. Shanks shook even harder as he saw the weapon, but Joshua just smirked and stood up. Dusting the dirt of his jeans, the sadistic man brought up the pistol to Nico`s forehead, causing both boys to pale.

It all happened fast then, and none of them were able to tell what happened. As Joshua pressed the trigger, Shanks screamed, a blood curdling, high-pitched, anguished screame, and a wave of haki washed over everyone, leaving Buggy and Joshua unconscious on the floor while foaming in the mouth.

* * *

Rayleigh stopped suddenly, and the team stopped as they saw the first mate suddenly shudder. As the burst of Haki came over them as well, the team shuddered as well, and looked with worry over to one another. Roger was the first to speak.

"Rayleigh, which was that?" He asked with a calm voice.  
"Haoshoku Haki," the dark king replied quietly.  
"Who?" Scooper asked.  
"Definitely not Nico, he doesn`t have Haki, and Buggy isn`t exactly strong-willed enough to have that kind of Haki at such a young age.." Rayleigh murmured.  
"Shanks?" Cooper asked.  
"I think so," Rayleigh murmured again.  
"Think you can sense them now?" Roger asked.  
"Yeah they`re in a room down this corridor. It`s the last door." Rayleigh said as he broke in a fast pace.

Unconscious guards were stationed every now and then along the silent corridor, and Rayleigh could feel the worry in him intensifying as they neared the forbidden door. They were unaware of what they will find, and that scared them more than a thousand marines.

As the door creaked open, the small group were beyond surprised. Buggy lay unconscious on the floor, pale, with blood crusting over on his forehead. Nico was leaning heavily against a pole, relief written in is features and a couple of bruises decorating his face, but otherwise he seemed fine. The worst of them all was Shanks. His arms were wrenched above his head in a brutal manner, and blood was still pumping from two open wounds that were dragging from his elbow to his wrist. His face was as white as sheet, and he was staring blankly at the wall. He had not even acknowledged them, and that scared the crew more than they were willing to admit. Rayleigh noticed that the boy was in shock, and slowly moved forward as not to scare the red-head. As he removed the cuffs from Shanks' wirsts, the boy slowly turned to look at him, and to Rayleigh`s shock immediately scampered back and started screaming his head off for the dark king to get away from him. Nico, who had been released, dropped on his knees next to the agitated kid, and his touch instantly calmed Shanks.

"Shanks. It`s not the drug. It`s real," Nico said clearly.  
"Real?" Shanks whimpered.  
"You can slap him and see if it`s real," Nico suggested, earning a "You`ll pay for this" look from the first mate.  
"He`s real," Shanks whispered as he cautiously touched Rayleigh`s beard. He stared at the first mate for a second before completely breaking down.

He sobbed in Rayleigh`s shirt, and the dark king easily picked him up. Buggy was in the captain`s arms, and the team immediately made it to the ship, where the other teams, that had regrouped there a few minutes before, immediately gaped at the sight before them. Three of the many doctors immediately stepped forward and took the now unconscious boys from their arms. They hurried to the infirmary and shut the door behind them as silence reigned on the usually chaotic ship.

"Hey Nico, why did he ask if what he saw was real?" Rayleigh asked the quiet man.  
"Joshua, the man that captured us, he gave him some drug, literally made him hallucinate that me and Buggy had been murdered in front of his eyes. He kind of went into shock after that. And Joshua just had to cut open his arms," Nico said, his grip tightening around the railing.  
"Hmph." Rayleigh just hummed under his breath and clapped Nico on the back.  
"You did good Nico, don`t blame yourself for what happened," with that the dark king walked away and went to grab a bottle of water until they heard some news on their little boys.

* * *

AN : I WAS TEMPED TO END IT HERE AND CONTINUE IN ANOTHER CHAPTER, BUT CAUSE I LOVE YOU GUYS, YOU MAY CONTINUE READING! XOX

* * *

It had been well over three hours before Andres, one of the doctors, stepped out and asked for the captain and first mate. When they entered the average sized infirmary, they immediately caught sight of Buggy, who was sleeping soundly on his back, relatively unharmed. Shanks however was the complete opposite. Bandages were wrapped around both his forearms, and a piece of gauze was on his forehead, hidden by his bangs. He looks to be deeply sleeping, but he was troubled. His breathing would hitch every now and then, and his eyes moved constantly, but the doctor assured them that he was just having a few nightmares, and his body was still flushing the drug out, so that was expected.

"He was traumatized there," Rayleigh murmured. "Otherwise his haki would not have been that powerful,"  
"He was scared for Buggy`s life more likely," Andres said. "He woke up shouting at me not to hurt him,"  
"Those two do love each other don`t they," Rayleigh stated with a small grin as he sat on one of the chairs.  
"Shanks certainly doesn`t hate the little clown," Roger said as he sat down as well.

They stayed there for two hours before Shanks began to stir. His eyelids fluttered and they immediately searched for Rayleigh, who stood up the second he heard the red-head groan. His gaze was open, fearful and insecure, as he stared the older man down.

"Shanks, how are you feeling?" Rayleigh asked, laying the boy back down.  
"Am I a monster? I knocked out Buggy. What`s wrong with me?" Shanks sobbed.  
"You are not a monster. Never allow someone to tell you that." Rayleigh said sternly. "You have a new power. That`s all. We`ll talk about it when you get better okay?"  
"So I`m not a monster?"  
"No," Rayleigh assured the younger male as he called for Andres, who came immediately.  
"How`s Buggy?" Shanks murmured.  
"He`s fine. Woke up a little over half an hour ago," Roger said with a small smile, watching as the boy`s thin shoulders sagged with relief.  
"He`s fine. The wounds should heal in about three weeks, and you are to stay here for at least two. You need rest, so no laying awake or sneaking out. Unless you want to collapse," Andres chided.  
"But that`s no fun,," Shanks pouted.  
"Sleep. Or I won`t tell you about your new power," Rayleigh stated with a small, mischievous, smile.  
"Okay." Shanks murmured, as he turned on his side and fell asleep in a few seconds.

* * *

It had been a month and expect for long, pinkish, lines on the inside of Shanks forearms, nothing suggested that someone had been attacked. The boys had started arguing over chores again, and Shanks didn`t wake up screaming again during the night. Rayleigh had yet to start on his training, and the little brat would often badger him about it, only to be told off and sent to his room or to finish his chores. After a whole month had passed, Shanks got a call from Rayleigh, and you could say that he basically ran to the small office, where the captain and first mate were waiting for him. He closed the door behind him, and despite his agitation to get to this moment, he couldn`t help but feel scared.

"Shanks, I just want to tell you something," Roger started. "I wish you luck, but do not trash my office. I will leave you in Rayleigh`s care now,"  
"Thanks, I guess," Shanks murmured.  
"Now Shanks, listen well. I`m going to teach you how to use Haki. You need to pay attention and do not be stubborn for once!" Rayleigh sternly said.  
"What is Haki?" Shanks asked.  
"Haki is a power that comes with having a strong will Shanks, like you do. Now, what you have more special than anyone else is the fact that you wakened your Haoshoku Haki, and only one in a million people have it," Rayleigh explained slowly.  
"Ohh.. So how do I train?" Shanks asked with a grin.  
"First, you have to be careful, cause if you allow it to take hold of you, instead of you controlling it, you will hurt your allies instead of your enemies," The dark king started explaining. "We are going to stop at a deserted island soon, and I`ll train you, but you`ve got to promise that you will do whatever I tell you and don`t go running off!"  
"Sure old man," Shanks muttered the last part.  
"AND LEARN SOME MANNERS!" Rayleigh shouted before the red head shot from the office while laughing his head off.  
"Sorry Old Man!" He yelled cheerily.

* * *

Three months later, the crew left the deserted island with an excited Shanks having fun knocking out some crew members when they were less alarmed. Needless to say, when Rayleigh caught him, the red-head got a lecture about not alarming the marines about his new found power, and not to tease his crew members, especially Buggy. The clown was tired of waking up in the infirmary after Shanks practised on him. And by Shanks' cheeky character, that happened a lot.

Eventually, the red head stopped, but the teasing and fighting and arguments never did, and Rayleigh found time to teach Buggy as well, who was simply delighted. Now, as the doctor fixed the two boys up from a fight with the marines, Cooper came running in the infirmary with a News paper in his hands. The head line read;

"RED HAIR SHANKS AND BUGGY THE CLOWN; HAKI USERS!"

Needless to say, there was a party that night on the Oro Jackson even though Rayleigh wanted to murder them for using it so recklessly.

* * *

YOW GUYS! I hope you enjoyed it ;3 I am in the middle of exams, so sorry if it is not as good :) !  
Leave reviews and feel free to tell me where I went wrong or where I have mistakes ecc ecc =D !  
-Chrisii


End file.
